Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.35 and last traded at $17.31, with a volume of 3246233 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VOD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $13.13 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays cut shares of Vodafone Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. New Street Research raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.57.

Vodafone Group Trading Up 2.4%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.52 and a 200-day moving average of $15.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VOD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 9,637.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,902,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,602,000 after buying an additional 8,811,061 shares during the period. SALT Holding Corp. grew its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 3,039.6% in the second quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,623,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,086 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 282.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,161,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,335,306 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 6,354.9% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,345,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 235.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,548,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,405 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.